Impatient Impulses
by Wanderlust93
Summary: Ella Cooper is returning to Hogwarts for her 5th year. Remus Lupin is the new DADA teacher. She knows he's her professor, but she can't help but feel as though they have a connection. What happens when the two get to know each other and impatient impulses threaten to take over? Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

I quickly glanced around the large crowd containing witches and wizards getting ready for another year at Hogwarts. There were hundreds of kids all saying goodbye to their families- mothers crying slightly, fussing over their children and fathers smiling fondly, noticing the embarrassed looks on their kids' faces. I had my eye out for a very distinct family of redheads. I pushed my curly brown hair back and grinned as I finally spotted them. The twins had their backs turned to me, and I ran to them, laughing loudly as I lunged on one twins' back. I felt their shock turn into laughter as they realized it was me. I quickly found it was George's back I was currently on and chuckled as I got down, and was pulled into a hug by the two of them. I was sandwiched between them (not that I'm complaining), as they began talking.

"Blood hell, Ella! You scared the piss out of me!" George grinned as the two of them backed out of the hug.

"You should've seen his face!" Fred laughed, "I think he thought it was one of those second years whose always following us around."

I laughed at the image of George's face I had produced in my mind, "Sorry George, I couldn't resist."

He joined my laughter and it was that moment that I noticed Mr. and Mrs. Weasley standing there, smiling at our behavior.

"Mrs. Weasley!" I said with my American accent, as she pulled me into a motherly hug. My family is originally from America, but we moved to England when I was eleven years old. Fred and George had been my very best friends since we sat together on the Hogwarts Express first year, so needless to say, I spent a lot of time at the burrow.

"How are you, dear? Getting enough to eat?" she asked as she placed her hands on my face, looking me over to make sure I wasn't being starved.

"Of course," I laughed. I found it particularly funny that she had asked this, seeing as I was just at the burrow a few days ago and she had made a very large supper, insisting that I take home the leftovers. "Alright Mr. Weasley?" I asked, looking over at the kind man standing next to his wife.

"Very well, thank you Ella. And you?" He inquired.

"I'm great, though not too happy about returning to school." I answered, noticing the twins making a face on either side of me, presumably also not too eager to return to another year of classes, homework and tests. We were heading into our 5th year, meaning OWLs. Kill me now, will you?

"Have your parents left already?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yeah, they left just a couple of minutes ago."

"Well, you'd best be boarding the train, it'll be leaving soon."

We said a last goodbye and got on the train, searching for a compartment. It was quite crowded, but we managed to find an empty compartment right before the train started its journey. We spent much of the ride joking around, laughing, and playing exploding snap. Much too soon, however, the train lurched to a stop and the lights went out.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

"I don't know." They whispered back.

It suddenly got extremely cold and I began feeling unexplainably sad.

"I think there's something out there." I informed them. I stood up and began moving towards the door, feeling them both reaching for my arm to pull me back.

"Ella,"

"What are you doing?"

"Get back here."

I ignored them and looked out the door, seeing an enormous black figure. I froze. I wasn't sure why, but I felt so much despair in that moment. Suddenly the figure disappeared, the lights went on, and the train started up again.

I no longer felt sad, but incredibly curious. "What the hell just happened?" I asked the twins, who wore expressions similar to mine.

"No idea," they stated at the same time.

"Let's go investigate," I grinned mischievously.

They smirked and stood up, walking out of the compartment with me. Others were also out and about, trying to figure out what had just occurred. We reached Fred and George's brother, Ron's, compartment, and I threw the door open.

"What the bloody hell was that?" I asked, blue eyes wide with curiosity. I suddenly noticed the scene in the compartment for the first time. Specifically Harry lying on the ground looking quite pale. "Harry! Are you alright?"

He smiled lightly, "I'm fine, thanks."

"That," said a man I hadn't noticed until now, "was a dementor. They guard Azkaban."

"Well what were they doing here?" I asked.

"They were looking for Sirius Black." he answered.

I made an "Oh" shape with my mouth and properly looked at the man for the first time. He was quite handsome, even though his face had a few scars. He looked to be in his thirties and had light brown hair that seemed to be prematurely streaked with a bit grey. He had lovely amber colored eyes, and he wore tattered robes.

He handed Harry a piece of chocolate. Ooh, that looks good. I bet he got it from Honeydukes. They have the best chocolate. Oops, he's talking. I hadn't heard a word he'd said, but he left the compartment, presumably to go talk to the driver or something. It was silent, so I took the opportunity to ask, "Who was that?"

"Professor R.J. Lupin." Hermione answered.

I nodded. He must be the new DADA teacher.

We finally arrived at Hogwarts a bit later, and I was seated comfortably between Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. The first years filed in, looking around nervously. I got an evil grin on my face before I said loudly to the twins, "Remember our sorting? The pain finally went away about halfway through third year. I still get nosebleeds sometimes, though."

The twins tried to hide their laughter beside me, and nodded, trying to look understanding. The first years began panicking, asking if the sorting hurt. I smirked to myself and looked up at the staff table. My eyes landed on Professor Lupin, who appeared to be hiding his own smirk. He must have heard what I said, I thought. He seemed to have felt my eyes on him because he looked up, catching my gaze. I raised my eyebrow at him, still smirking as I looked to the first years, now being calmed by McGonagall, and back up to him. His smirk grew to a smile, and he looked to be on the verge of laughter. Interesting, I thought. I could already tell he was going to be better than Lockhart. That dunce.

The sorting began, and Dumbledore stood up to give his speech. He told us about the dementors that were now guarding the castle, and then told us that Hagrid would be taking over as the Care of Magical Creatures professor. The entire hall- minus Slytherins of course- clapped loudly. Fred and George let out loud whistles, happy for the gentle gamekeeper. Dumbledore then introduced Professor Lupin. He seemed to be embarrassed as the hall applauded him when he stood up, and quickly sat back down. Dumbledore continued talking, but I zoned out. I found my thoughts drifting to Lupin. He was a curious one, that's for sure. I wonder where he got his scars. And why he wears tattered robes. And why he has such a nice smile. Wait, what? Okay, let's just pretend that I never thought that last thing. I mean he's a teacher for Merlin's sake! Though I didn't think anything bad, just that he has a nice smile. Dammit! I did it again!

I was brought out of my thoughts by everyone clapping as the headmaster sat down and food appeared on the table in front of us. I dug into the food, and tried to join the conversation the twins were having with Angelina Johnson.

We entered our common room when dinner was finished, and I flopped onto the couch.

"Oof!" I muttered as Fred 'kindly' sat directly on top of me. "Get your fat ass of me." I pushed him off of me and onto the floor.

"That wasn't very nice," Fred grinned as he stood up, rubbing his backside. "And I'll have you know that my arse is not fat. It's just big boned." He lifted my legs up and sat down, putting my legs securely on his lap. George lifted my head and sat, and I layed my head on his lap.

George and I laughed loudly at Fred's statement. "Sure," I replied. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

He pouted and I laughed again. We talked for a few more minutes before I yawned. "I don't know about you two, but I'm exhausted. Night boys!"

I stood up and began to walk up to my dorm as they responded, "Night Ella!"

I entered my dorm that I shared with Angelina, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet- all chasers on the Gryffindor quidditch team. They weren't there yet, however. I had noticed them still down in the common room. I quickly changed into pajamas, jumped into bed, and closed my eyes. Before I drifted off to sleep, a certain smile flashed in my mind.


	2. Chapter 2

I awoke the next morning after being hit with an unidentified object.

"Oi! Wake up!" Angelina told me, brushing her hair. "You don't wanna be late our first day back."

I grumbled something unintelligible as I threw her pillow back at her and stood up, rubbing my eyes. I took a quick shower and changed into my uniform: white collared shirt, rolled up to my elbows, loose tie, black skirt, and black low-rise converse. I left my naturally curly hair to rest lightly on my shoulders and cascade down my back.

After I finished tying my shoes I ran down the stairs with Angelina and Alicia.

"Finally," Fred said as we reached the bottom.

That earned him a punch in the shoulder. It was still way too early for me.

Fred rubbed his shoulder while George chuckled and I let a smirk cross my face. He stuck his tongue out at me and I returned the favor.

We finally reached the Great Hall and I took a seat between the twins, as usual. I piled eggs, bacon, and toast onto my plate and began shoveling it into my face.

"I swear," George began, "It's a wonder you're not the size of the giant squid yet, with all that you eat."

"Thank Merlin for my fast metabolism," I told them, grinning.

It was at that moment that Professor McGonagall came around giving everyone their timetables. I looked at mine and noticed with a groan that we had potions first thing in the morning. Fred and George had the same thing, which was no surprise- we've always had the same schedule since first year.

"I don't think I can handle Snape first thing in the morning," I told them.

"Me either," they groaned together.

"Hey," I heard a distinct Scottish drawl behind us. I'd know that voice anywhere. I used to have dreams about that voice. Not to mention the boy who accompanied it. Too much information? Okay. Got it.

"Hey Oliver," we all greeted. He sent me a quick smile before he sat down next to Angelina and began talking to the team about when their first quidditch practice would be. I used to have the biggest crush on Oliver, but then I realized that the only steady relationship he'd ever have in his life was between him and his broomstick. Wow, okay that sounded much creepier than I meant it to.

I suddenly felt a prickling sensation in the back of my neck, as if I was being watched. I looked up at the staff table and my breath caught as I made eye contact with Professor Lupin. He smiled politely at me, before resuming a conversation with Flitwick. I could feel my face heating up as I looked down at my plate. Why am I blushing? He's just a teacher. Stop it, Ella. Stop this nonsense right now. I wonder what he smells like. I bet it's really nice. Like books, and parchment, and knowledge. Yes, that's exactly how I imagine he would smell. I wonder how close enough I'd have to get to find out... Oh god, why am I even thinking about this? What did I tell you about nonsense? Aaaand now I'm talking to myself in my head like a crazy person. Peachy. I hope you're happy, Lupin.

"Hellooooo,"

"Ellllaaaaa,"

It was at that moment that I realized that Fred and George were standing and staring at me, waiting for an answer.

"Uhh, huh?" Was my eloquent reply. They rolled their eyes.

"We said-"

"-come on-"

"potions is starting soon-"

"-and we don't want to be late."

I jumped up, grabbing my bag. "You're right, no one wants to feel Snape's wrath this early in the morning"

We made it to potions just in time and I took my usual seat between the twins.

Snape entered the room and a hush went over throughout the students. He began droning on and on about OWLs and how we were going to spend the year preparing for it. He literally spent the entire class talking about it and I was bored out of my mind. Transfiguration was much the same, actually.

After Transfiguration was DADA. As we were leaving McGonagall's classroom, I realized that I had stupidly forgotten to pack my DADA book. Arrrgh, I'm such an idiot sometimes.

"Guys, I forgot my book in my room. I'll have to go back and get it," I sighed.

"Okay, we'll save you a seat," George said.

I nodded

"Hurry back-"

"-we wouldn't want you to be late." They wore identical smirks.

I shot them a look of disbelief. "Me. Late? Boys, you don't know me at all." I shot them a wink and heard their chuckles echoing the hall as I began running back to the dorm. God, I really needed exercise. Maybe I'll start waking up early and go for a run around the quidditch pitch. Ha. As if. Once I had reached my dorm, I found my book sitting on top of my bed. Panting, I grabbed it and shoved it inside my bag. Ugh. So. Tired.

I checked my clock and realized that class would be starting soon. Very soon. Sod it, I'm not running all the way back down there, I'd just done my running for the whole month. So, me being the lazy individual that I am, walked to the DADA classroom. The door was shut. Class must have already started. Shrugging, I pushed the door open and tripped slightly over my own feet as I entered the room. Once I had regained my balance, I glanced up and noticed that the entire class was staring at me, some chuckling at my lack of grace. I flashed them a cheesy grin and my eyes met Professor Lupin, who was giving me an amused look.

"Lovely of you to join us." He said

"Sorry I'm late professor. I left my book in my dorm, so I ran all the way up there to get it, and then I was really tired and out of breath, so I just kinda leisurely walked back down here at my own pace. I wouldn't have been any good in class if I'd passed out from exhaustion." I explained to him, shooting him a smile that was backed with just a hint of mischief.

He laughed lightly. "It's quite alright, Miss…" He trailed off, wanting me to fill in the blank. Oops, I forgot that he didn't even know my name.

"Cooper, sir. Ella Cooper."

He smiled at me and finished his previous sentence. "Miss Cooper, but try not to make a habit of it."

"I wouldn't dream of it, sir." I sent him a smirk and sat in the empty seat next to Fred, hearing his and George's quiet chuckles.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello lovelies! So sorry it's been such a long time since I've updated. I thought there wasn't really any interest in this story, but I've just noticed it had gotten reviews (thank you to those of you who did review), and I've gotten new inspiration. Also, I know it's a bit short, but the next one will be longer, I promise.

* * *

The first week flew by- and by "flew by" I mean crawled along at a ridiculously slow pace. But finally it was Friday. I grinned as I entered the common room after my final class and threw my bag down by the couch before plopping on top of it.

"Finally. I swear the first week back is always the slowest," I commented as Fred and George took their places on either side of me. The twins made murmurs of agreement before grinning at me. "But now we have the whole weekend," commented Fred.

"And you know what that means," continued George.

I grinned before shouting, "Party!" You see, it's a tradition that every Friday after the first week of school the boys and I throw a party in the Gryffindor common room. I was pretty excited about it, and I knew a lot of other students were too. It wouldn't take much preparation. Basically all we needed to do was get some music playing, and of course cast a silencing charm on the room so that McGonnagall wouldn't hear.

After dinner I ran up the stairs to my dormitory to get ready. After all, half the fun of going to a party is getting to dress cute, am I right? I went through a good majority of my clothes and finally settled on a cute mini dress I had bought this summer. I knew it'd come in handy. It was a sleeveless, deep purple dress with a sweetheart neckline and a flowy skirt ending just above my knees. I paired it with some silver flats. I then applied a bit of makeup and smiled at my reflection in the mirror. I could already hear the music playing downstairs, so I knew it had started a little bit ago.

I made my way down the stairs and grinned as I looked around at all of the students having fun. I felt two pairs of familiar arms go around my shoulders. "You look great!" Fred and George said at the same time, as they do.

"Thanks boys!" I gave them a genuine smile and began dancing with them. It had been about an hour when the worst possible scenario happened. Okay, maybe not the worst, but it was pretty damn close. Let me set the scene for you: Fred, George, and I had taken it upon ourselves to dance together on top of one of the tables in the common room. Other students were dancing and drinking butter beer while the music was booming. Suddenly the portrait hole swung open. Thinking it was more students coming in, nobody payed much mind to it, until I realized with horror that it was McGonnagall, dressed in her night clothes- hair curlers and all- accompanied by Filch and Professor Lupin.

"Uhh, guys," I started, looking quickly at Fred and George, before my face went back to McGonnagall who seemed to be getting increasingly angrier. "You remembered to do the silencing charm, right?"

The twins had identical looks of simultaneous realization/horror on their faces, and I couldn't help but face palm. The other students seemed to notice the teachers' and caretaker's presence as well, as they all seemed to freeze at the same time. I noticed that Lupin's gaze seemed to be fixed on me. McGonnagall flicked her wand, silencing the music. "What is going on here?!" she shrieked. "Get to bed, all of you!"

The students began making their way either up to the dormitories or back to their own common room. Fred and George hopped down from the table and helped me down as well. We tried sneakily to get away with the rest of the crowd until we heard, "Except you three!" We cringed and turned around at the same time to see McGonnagall giving us a stern glare. "Why do I get the feeling that the three of you were behind this?"

We were already caught, no use trying to deny it. "Uhhh, well, probably because nobody else could throw such an awesome party. I'm flattered that you recognize our style, Minnie." I smirked as I heard the twins trying to hold their snickers.

"Minnie" however, looked far from impressed. "Detention!" she called, "But we all know that you three cannot be in the same detention period if it can be helped. Therefore, Weasleys, you'll be with Filch, and Ms. Cooper, you'll be with Professor Lupin."

My eyes shot to his and we made eye contact before McGonnagall began speaking again. "Now get to bed." She looked at each of us in turn before going out the portrait hole, followed by Filch and Lupin. He stopped before he got out of the common room, turned around to look at me, and said, "Tomorrow night, 7:00." I nodded and he continued his journey through the portrait.

Fred and George had already begun dragging their feet to their dormitory. I began walking up the stairs to my room and for some reason the only thing that was going through my head was that I was going to be alone with Professor Lupin tomorrow. I know I should be disappointed that I got detention, but for some reason, all I felt was excited.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4! Thanks so much to BooksMakeMagicForMe for reviewing, I'm glad you like it! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)

* * *

The next morning I slept in rather late. There was quidditch practice that morning, so I knew no one would bother me. When I finally woke up, I layer there for a few moments, thinking. Tonight I had detention with Lupin. Alone. Stop thinking about it, Ella. He's a bloody teacher for Merlin's sake. Argggh.

I finally got out of bed and spent longer than I should've picking out an outfit. I tried to tell myself that it was just because I was sick of being in my school uniform, not because I wanted to look nice for Lupin. Hmmm, I wonder which of these shirts he'd like better? I don't want to look like I'm trying to hard. Dammit, Ella! Stop thinking about him! I finally settled on a white, off the shoulder tee, light blue skinny jeans, and teal low-rise converse. After I had showered and dressed, I braided my curly hair off to one side. Immediately some random curls fell out and framed my face. I shrugged and made my way down to breakfast.

As I walked in, I purposefully avoided looking up at the staff table. I took my seat and piled eggs, bacon, and toast onto my plate. I grabbed the book I had brought along- "Pride and Prejudice," a classic-and began reading. I could feel a pair of eyes on me and it took all of my will not to look up. After all of my food was gone, I stayed a little longer to finish the chapter I was on. When I was done, I closed the book and stood up, taking a quick peek at the staff table. I noticed Lupin right away. He was in the middle of a conversation with Professor Dumbledore. I looked away before he caught me and walked out of the Great Hall and back up to the common room.

I spent the rest of the day goofing off with Fred and George. I mean, it's not like I was gonna do homework. That's saved for late Sunday night, come on now. I was lying on Fred's bed while the twins were lounging on George's bed.

"Hey guys," I smirked, "Remember that time you forgot to put a silencing charm on the common room when we were trying to have a party?"

They groaned. "I thought Fred was going to do it."

"And I thought George was going to do it."

I face palmed. I feel like I do that way too much in their presence. "And now we're stuck with detention on a Saturday night."

"Yeah well, at least you have yours with Lupin. George and I get bloody Filch!"

"That's what you get for being dumb-asses." I grinned as they glared at me. "What time is it anyway?" I asked, too lazy to look at the clock for myself.

George rolled his eyes and looked at the clock on the bedside table. "6:40."

I sat up, "I'd better get going. I have to be there at 7. What time do you guys have yours?"

"8:00." they answered in unison.

"Well good luck with Filch," I called as I made my way to the door, "Lord knows what he'll have you do." I faintly heard a sarcastic response as I walked down the stairs.

I arrived outside Lupin's office and for some reason my heart was beating weirdly. I was almost…nervous. I shook off the thought, straightened my shoulders, and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

I opened the door and stepped in. Lupin was sitting behind his desk with some papers and looked up with a smile when I walked in.

"Ah, Miss Cooper, right on time." He continued smiling in my direction. "All I really have for you to do is grade these first year essays, will that be alright?"

"Yeah, that'll be fine." I answered as I took the stack of papers he had gestured to and sat down at a desk near the front.

We worked in silence for a little while, with only my quiet chuckles every once in a while when a first year made a particularly stupid mistake.

I was absent-mindedly playing with my braid when Lupin spoke up, "So, you like to read then?"

I wasn't expecting him to speak, so it startled me a little and my head snapped. "Sorry?"

He gave me an amused smile, one I noticed he gave me a lot, and said, "I noticed you reading this morning at breakfast."

"Oh, yeah. I love to read." I smiled.

He returned it and said, "So do I. What were you reading?"

"Pride and Prejudice. It's a muggle book, but it's one of my favorites."

"Hmm, I've heard of it, but never read it. It's quite good then?"

"It's brilliant. You should read it, I think you'll really like it."

He smiled, "Alright then."

I smiled back and looked back down at the paper I was grading. I looked back up at him and said, "You know, you're pretty cool for a teacher. Much better than our last one, anyway."

He chuckled and said, "Ahh yes, I've heard some horror stories about Lockhart."

"You don't know the half of it. The second day of class, I stayed after to try to ask him a question about the reading and he thought I wanted him to autograph my book. He grabbed it, signed it directly over the passage I was asking about, and handed it back before returning to whatever it was he was doing." I said, sounding unamused while Lupin was trying to stifle a laugh. "So yeah. Much better than him." I concluded with a smirk.

"Well that's good, then. Thank you." He smiled.

I looked back down at the essays and noticed I was all finished. I stood up and brought them to his desk. "All done." I handed them to him and our hands touched briefly.

"That's all the work I had for you to do. You can go now."

"Okay." I walked to the door and glanced back at him to see him watching me. "Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight, Miss Cooper."

"You can call me Ella, you know. Miss Cooper makes me feel far more mature than I am." I grinned as he laughed.

"Okay, Ella." he replied, saying my name as if trying it out on his tongue for the first time.

I smiled softly and walked out the door, shutting it securely behind me. I began my trek back to the common room, thinking about tonight's events. When I was about halfway there, I stopped dead in my tracks. Ah crap. I'm developing a crush on my professor.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks so much to lenokiie for the review! Here's chapter 5. Let me know what you think, reviews give me motivation to update quicker! :)**

* * *

On Monday after DADA class finished, I told Fred and George I just needed to talk to Lupin about something and that they should head to lunch without me. They nodded and all but ran out of the room. I shook my head at them and made it to the front of Lupin's desk.

He looked up at me with a smile. "Is there something I can do for you Miss - Ella?" he finished after remembering what I told him about calling me by my first name.

I pulled out my copy of "Pride and Prejudice" and handed it to him, "I thought you might like to read my copy. I've underlined some of my favorite parts." I said, somewhat nervously.

The nerves went away when his smile turned into a full grin. "That's very nice of you, Ella. Thank you."

"You're welcome." I didn't really know what else to say, so I turned to begin walking to the door when he called me back.

I looked back to see him grabbing something from one of the drawers in his desk. As he got up to bring it to me, I saw it was a book. "'Madness of two.' Have you read it?"

I took the book and answered him, "No, I haven't."

"It's one of my favorites. By wizard author Leonard Thompson. I have a feeling you'll enjoy it." He smiled.

"I'm sure I will. Thank you, sir." He nodded and I made my way to the door.

Down at the Great Hall I took my seat between the twins, both of them too busy stuffing their faces to give me a proper greeting. I rolled my eyes and piled food onto my plate.

"Hey," I heard the familiar Scottish drawl.

I looked up and met Oliver's eyes. "Hey Oliver." I assumed he was going to talk to the twins about quidditch practice or something, but he continued talking to me.

"How was your summer?"

"It was great, how was yours?"

"It was brilliant. I went to so many quidditch matches." he grinned.

"I sort of assumed." I smirked.

He smiled and looked down at his plate, then back up at me. "So, first Hogsmeade weekend is coming up."

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that."

"Yeah, listen-"

"Hey!" Angelina cut him off and sat down next to him.

"Hey Ang." I replied. "What were you saying Oliver?" By this time Fred, George, and Angelina were all listening to our conversation.

"Erm, it wasn't important. I've got to get going, anyway." He stood up and began walking to the doors.

"Okay…that was weird." I said to the others. I looked up to see the twins smirking. "What?"

"Nothing," they replied.

Later that day, before dinner, I had decided to take the book Lupin gave me and go out onto the lawn to read underneath a tree in front of the lake. The twins had quidditch practice, so they weren't around to bother me, as they usually did when I was trying to do anything productive. The weather was lovely- I had rolled up my sleeves, my hair was held in a low side ponytail while I used my tie as a sort of head band, and my bare legs were stretched out in front of me, crossed at the ankles. As soon as I began reading, I immediately became immersed.

I head read a few chapters when a shadow was cast over me. I glanced up and my heart skipped as I met Professor Lupin's eyes. He smiled kindly at me. "Hello, Ella. Enjoying some light reading before dinner?"

"Yes, the book you lent me is very good." I replied, shifting my legs a bit.

He glanced down at them briefly at the movement, before looking back up to my face, "I'm glad. I knew you'd like it."

I chuckled a bit and looked down before looking to his eyes, "You can sit, if you like." I was nervous for his answer, but I didn't need to be, as he smiled and took a seat next to me. He leaned his back against the tree and closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, looking out to the lake.

"I forgot how beautiful this place is."

"Does it feel weird to be back?" I asked, curiously.

He chuckled lightly before answering, "Yes, it does."

"What house were you?" He opened him mouth to reply before I went "No wait! Let me guess."

He laughed a bit and nodded his head, awaiting my answer.

"I'm gonna say…Ravenclaw." I smiled, confident in my answer.

He chuckled and shook his head, "Gryffindor. Though everyone thought I should've been a Ravenclaw, myself included at times."

"Well the sorting hat knows you better than you know yourself, which is creepy I know," I paused as he let out a soft laugh "but he must have seen that you're a true Gryffindor at heart. If he thought you were meant for Ravenclaw, that's where he would've put you."

"I suppose you're right," he smiled softly.

There was a comfortable beat of silence before I asked, "How'd you find me anyway? Were you just out for a walk?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to go for a short stroll before dinner, and I saw you over here and thought I'd come say hello."

That was a lie. He'd seen her sitting out here from his office window and had the sudden urge to just be near her- talk to her, sit with her, anything. Not that he'd ever tell her that, or anybody for that matter. The full moon was nearing and his senses were going haywire. A sudden breeze blew by, lifting her hair lightly, and with it, her scent. His nostrils filled with the smell of what he could only describe as _Ella. _

He cleared his throat, "Dinner should be starting, why don't we go inside?" He stood up and his hand appeared in front of my face. I glanced up at his face, meeting his eyes for one electric moment before grabbing a hold of his hand- taking notice of how much bigger it was than mine- and allowed him to pull me to my feet.

We began walking back up to the castle in a comfortable silence and entered the Great Hall together, all the while butterflies were going crazy in my stomach.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the review, Sweet Petit! :) And lenokiie, don't worry, Oliver won't be getting very far ;) **

* * *

After dinner I was walking back up to the common room with the twins when I felt a hand grab my elbow. I looked back to be met with the eyes of Oliver.

"May I speak with you?"

I was a bit confused but said, "Yeah, sure Oliver. What's up?"

He looked at Fred and George, who had stopped when I had. I realized he wanted to talk to me alone so I said, "You boys go ahead up to the common room. I'll meet you there in a minute."

The nodded and left, but not before giving me identical winks paired with smirks. I raised an eyebrow at them, but they'd already turned around. I looked up at Oliver, waiting for him to speak, as students and teachers continued to walk by. I met eyes with Lupin briefly before looking back at Oliver.

"So, as you know, the first Hogsmeade weekend is coming up in a few weeks." he said while I nodded. Oh no. It suddenly hit me what Oliver was about to do. Please, please don't be what I think it is. I can't stand awkward situations. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe he'll tell me he can't go due to quidditch and ask me to pick him up some candy from Honeydukes or something. Right? Okay, even I know that sounds farfetched.

"I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me. As in, ya know, a date." Aaaaand there it is. He blushed and glanced down, awaiting my answer.

It's true that I did used to have a crush on Oliver, but that was a couple of years ago. I now felt nothing but friendship towards him. Uggggh, what am I supposed to say, I hate hurting people's feelings.

I was suddenly hit with an idea. "I'm sorry Oliver, but I don't think that's such a good idea. It's just that I know how much winning the quidditch cup this year means to you, and if we were to…date, it would only serve as a distraction. I just don't think it'd be fair to you. If you ended up losing the cup, it might hurt your chances of ending up on a pro team. I got high hopes for you, kid." I finished with a smile.

He smiled lightly. Yes, he bought it. "You know what, you're right Ella. I can't afford any distractions this year. Thanks." he gave me another smile as he walked away up the stairs.

Damn, I'm good. I just turned him down and he ended up thanking me.

I made my way up to the common room and plopped between Fred and George.

"So," Fred began.

"Should we plan on spending the first Hogsmeade visit without you?" George finished.

"Nah, I turned him down."

They looked at me, equal looks of surprise on their faces. "I thought you liked him?"

"Yeah, like two years ago. You and I both know that if I dated him the only thing he'd ever talk to me about would be quidditch. As lovely as the sport is, I just don't think I could handle it." They nodded in understanding.

"How'd you guys know anyway?" I asked.

"He's been asking about you constantly,"

"A bit annoying, actually."

"We figured he must fancy you,"

"Why else would he have taken such an interest?"

I rolled my eyes, but nodded all the same.

* * *

It was Sunday and I was currently pacing outside Professor Lupin's office. He hadn't been in class on Friday, Snape had said he was "under the weather." As you can imagine, DADA class with Snape was awful. He made us learn about werewolves, even though multiple people told him we'd already learned all about them in third year.

I shivered lightly in the cold, damp hallway. I was wearing white skinny jeans, a plain v-neck green tee, and matching green converse. I'd learned ages ago how to bewitch my shoes to change to whatever color I wanted them to. It's quite handy, if I do say so myself.

I wanted to check on Lupin, to see if he was feeling any better, but I didn't know if that would be too weird. I shook it off and finally got up the courage to knock on the door lightly three times.

"Come in."

I turned the door handle and walked inside. He looked up at me with a soft smile. "Ella, what can I do for you?" I noticed he was paler than usual. Snape had definitely not been lying about him being sick.

I suddenly got a nervous knot in my stomach. "Well, you weren't in class Friday. Professor Snape said you were ill. I just came to see if you were feeling any better."

He gave me a gentle smile, "I'm feeling much better, thank you. Take a seat." He pointed to the desk directly in front of his desk.

I walked over to it and sat down. He stood up, "Tea?" he asked.

I made a face, I'd never been much for tea. "No thank you."

He chuckled, noticing the face I'd made. "Coffee?" I made another face and shook my head.

"I know," he began with a smile, "How about some hot chocolate?"

I grinned. Now that, I liked. "That would be great, thank you."

He got to work preparing my drink, and I looked around his office. "How was Professor Snape?"

I snorted. "How do you think he was? He took a million points from Gryffindor and made us relearn a bunch of stuff we already knew."

He laughed as he handed me my drink. "Severus is quite the character, isn't he?"

"You're telling me," I replied as I took a sip of my drink. It seemed to warm my whole body, and I made an involuntary "mmmm" sound.

"I've noticed your accent. You're American?" he asked.

"Yep. I moved to England in May when I was 11. I got my Hogwarts letter the day of my 12th birthday, in June. The Salem Institute of Magic doesn't accept students until they're 12, so I hadn't had any proper training, therefore I had to start in first year. So I'm actually 16, a year older than everybody else." I explained.

He nodded, seemingly contemplating something as he took a sip of the tea he'd made himself. "You and the twins seem to be good friends."

"The best."

"I've heard from the other professors that you three cause quite a bit of mischief around here," he stated with a smirk.

I shot him a smirk of my own, "Why sir, I have no idea what you're talking about. We're model students."

He laughed, "You know, I used to be quite the troublemaker myself when I was in school."

"You? No way." I answered, trying to picture Lupin putting a spell on all the Slytherins to turn their hair pink or something.

"Well, it was mostly my two friends, but I always went along with it. And I helped quite extensively with the planning," he told me.

"Well, well, well. Who would've thought? Our own little Lupin was a mischief maker in his heyday." I grinned as he laughed. I found that I really liked his laugh, and I liked it even better when I was the cause of it.

"Now don't go telling everybody about it. Can't have them not taking me seriously as a professor." he smiled to let me know he was joking.

"Your secret's safe with me, sir." I grinned. He returned it, but I could tell he was still very tired. I figured he was probably too nice to just kick me out. I took the last couple sips of my drink and stood up. "I'd better get back before the twins finish their game of exploding snap and realize I'm gone."

He chuckled lightly. "Of course."

I made my way to the door and turned back to him. "Thanks for the hot chocolate. And the conversation."

"You're quite welcome, Ella. Come see me anytime." he smiled gently.

I smiled back before walking through the door, shutting it securely behind me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7! Sorry for the wait, I had a bit of writer's block, but I think I know where I'm going to go with it from here. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

It had been one month since that first night in Lupin's office, and since then I'd taken to visiting him often. During evenings when Fred and George were at quidditch practice, I'd make my way to his office. Some nights I'd help him grade papers, and other nights we'd simply sit and talk and drink hot chocolate. I knew that it was wrong to have a crush on a teacher, but simply spending some time with him couldn't hurt, right? Especially when he looked up at me with that smile of his, looking so happy to see me.

The same smile he gave me this evening when I entered his office after knocking on the door.

"Good evening, Ella," he said, smile intact.

I returned it and casually said, "Hey, Lupin." I'd taken to dropping 'professor' during these visits. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but he never said anything about it, so I assumed it was okay. I'm not sure if he even noticed, to be honest.

I took my usual seat at the desk directly in front of his as he moved about the room, making a pot of hot chocolate. He handed me my cup, for which I uttered a small "thank you," and sat down behind his desk. However, I noticed that his movements were a bit stiff.

"Feeling alright?" I asked, cursing myself for sounding so concerned.

He smiled lightly, "I'm falling ill again. I won't be able to teach tomorrow, I'm afraid."

I frowned. "You don't have a very good immune system, do you?"

I hadn't meant for it to be funny, but he chuckled, a motion that seemed to take quite a bit out of him, before saying, "No. I really don't."

It was then that a thought came to me. "Aww man, does that mean Snape's taking over for you again?"

Another chuckle. "Yes, _Professor _Snape has kindly offered to take over for me again."

Ahh, so he must have noticed that I don't refer to him as 'professor,' but he just doesn't mind, as he's never corrected me. I didn't take much time to think about that, however, before I groaned. Tomorrow was Friday, so classes would feel like they went on forever anyway, but with the added fact that Saturday was the first Hogsmeade visit of the year, having multiple classes with Snape would be torture.

"Now, now. I'm sure it won't be that bad," he said, with a look on his face as though he didn't quite believe the words that were leaving his mouth.

I snorted, "You're a terrible liar, Lupin."

He gave me a smile, "So I've been told."

There was a moment or two of comfortable silence before he uttered, "We went to school together."

I looked up, surprised. "You and Sn- Professor Snape?" After he nodded, I continued, "Did you two know each other?" After all, there's tons of students I attend classes with that I recognize, but don't really _know. _

He nodded, almost somberly, "Though when we spoke, I can't say it was to utter very kind words, I'm afraid."

"He bullied you?" It wouldn't be too farfetched, considering how Snape is with his students.

"Oh no. Quite the opposite, actually." He was looking down at his cup now, almost as if he was afraid of meeting my eyes.

"You bullied him? Forgive me for having a hard time believing that, but I think you're the farthest thing from a bully I've ever met, Lupin." To say I was surprised at this new revelation was an understatement. Lupin- the Lupin that I knew- wouldn't hurt a fly.

"I never technically did anything to him directly. My friends were always tormenting him, but I never did anything about it. In the end, that's just as bad."

"Everybody makes mistakes. And it's hard to stand up to your friends. Even harder than standing up to your enemies."

He finally looked up and met my eyes. I opened and closed my mouth once before saying, "Would you like to know a secret?"

"About you? Of course."

"When I was 11, before I moved to England, I was attending a muggle school in America. There was a girl in my class who was a bit…different. Not that there was anything wrong with her; she was quite nice, actually. Anyway, a couple of other girls from my class were always bullying her- calling her names, stealing her lunch and things like that. I always wanted to butt in and say something- stand up for her and stop them. But I don't know, I guess I was too scared or something. I always told myself, 'Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll say something." But I never did. And then I moved and I never saw her again. I still think about her sometimes. Wondering if she's okay- if she's still being bullied. I should've stopped it. I regret it terribly."

Lupin, who had been listening to my story intently, was quiet for a moment before trying to offer comfort by saying, "You were young."

I gave him a soft smile, "So were you. But like I said, everybody makes mistakes. Especially when you're young. That's your time to take chances and screw up, but it's okay, as long as you learn from it, and it sounds to me as though you have."

He smiled, staring into my eyes for one intense moment, "How on earth did you get to be so mature, anyway?"

I smirked, "No idea. Do me a favor though- don't tell Fred and George. I can't ruin my reputation."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he chuckled.

Feeling the sudden need to change the subject I asked, "Have you finished that book I gave you yet, by the way?"

"Not yet. I've been a bit busy, you know," he rolled his eyes with a smile.

I returned his eye roll, "Yeah, so have I, but I've still read like 3 books in the time it's taken you to read this one."

"Well, what can I say? I like to savor each word I read, and really get to an understanding of the book, not just whip through it so I can get to the next one." he gave me a teasing smile, which I returned. I liked this. Us teasing and joking around with each other.

In the light of his office I could see just how pale he was. He really was getting quite sick again. I suddenly felt bad for intruding when I could tell that he needed his rest.

I stood up, "I should leave now and let you get some rest. Besides, I don't want you getting me sick." I grinned to let him know I was just joking about the last part.

He smiled and stood up as well, "I don't think you need to worry about that. It was lovely, as always, to see you Ella."

I had made my way to the door and turned back, facing him. "Saturday's Hogsmeade, but I could come see you after. Just to check and see if you're better. If you like." I ended nervously.

He gave me a warm smile, "I'd like that very much."

"Alright, goodnight Lupin. Feel better."

I opened the door and walked through it as I heard him answer, "Thank you, Ella. Goodnight."


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's the next chapter! Thanks so much for the reviews! It blows my mind that you guys not only read what I write, but actually like it and take the time to let me know :) Hope you guys like this one!**

* * *

I had been right, Friday did drag on forever. But it was finally Saturday and I was on my way to Hogsmeade with Fred and George. They were on either side of me, discussing various products they needed to get from Zonko's Joke Shop. I hadn't really been listening to them, though. I was worried about Lupin, wondering if he was feeling any better. He really did look dreadful when I went to see him Thursday night.

We ended up spending a large portion of our time in Zonko's. Not that I'd expected any differently. The twins and I were inspecting all of the new items that had come in since the last time we'd been able to visit. I ended up buying a few things, but Fred and George had multiple bags full.

When we were finished there, we went to Honeydukes. I looked at the display of chocolate bars and bit my lip in thought. I wanted to buy one for Lupin as a sort of get well soon present, but I didn't know if he'd think it was weird. Sod it, he probably already thinks I'm weird. I picked up a milk chocolate bar and bought it, along with a couple of other chocolate bars, some sugar quills, and pumpkin pasties, which I was planning on hoarding in my room for the next time I'd need an emergency sugar fix. Those happen quite often, actually.

We ended up going to a couple more shops before we decided to head to the Three Broomsticks for a butter beer. Fred went up to Madame Rosmerta, who I'm pretty sure he fancies judging by the blush on his cheeks, and ordered three butter beers for us. We found a table in the corner and sat our bags down on the floor as we took our seats. I brought the drink up to my mouth and took a sip, closing my eyes and making an 'mmm' sound as it traveled down my throat.

Fred spoke up next to me "We've missed you Jellie Ellie." George nodded from his seat next to him.

I rolled my eyes at the nickname they liked to call me from time to time, "What do mean 'miss me?' We see each other all the time."

"It doesn't feel like it," George began.

"We've been being hounded by Wood in quidditch-" Fred took over.

"And whenever we get back from practice you're never waiting for us in the common room-"

"Like you used to."

"I'm sorry guys. I've just really busy with homework this year. Yes, I actually do my homework," I finished after they gave me identical looks of doubt. I immediately felt guilty. I'd been spending a lot of time with my visits to Lupin and I didn't realize that meant that I'd been spending more time apart from Fred and George.

"How about tonight we have a good old fashioned sleep over like we used to do? We can even go raid the kitchens and maybe plan a prank or two," I smirked. They immediately grinned and agreed, before jumping into a discussion on what type of pranks we could do.

After we had finished our drinks we made our way back to the castle. I was riding on George's back, as I'd told them very dramatically that my feet were tired from being dragged all over Jonko's. They had both rolled their eyes, but George leant down and let me hop on his back. I threw my arms casually around his neck while he held on to my legs.

When we got back to the castle we went to our respective dorms to put our purchases away before the feast. I told them I'd just meet them down in the Great Hall because I had a couple of things I had to do.

With the chocolate bar in hand, I made my way to Lupin's office. I self-consciously fluffed my curls and straightened my deep green sweater before knocking on the door.

"Come in," came the faint reply. I opened the door and walked in, noticing Lupin standing beside his desk shuffling some papers.

"Ella!" he smiled warmly. "I've been expecting you. How was Hogsmeade?"

"It was good. A bit chilly, but good. How are you feeling?"

He smiled softly at my concern, "Much better, thank you." Though I noticed he was still a little pale, he did appear to be doing a lot better than he had the other night.

I suddenly remembered my purpose for coming here and shyly held up the chocolate bar I'd gotten for him. "I got this for you. Just, ya know, as a sort of get well gift, I suppose," I finished lamely.

He seemed surprised, but grinned before taking the chocolate. Our hands brushed and I could've sworn I felt a light spark. I studied his face to see if he felt it too, but he just said, "Thank you very much, Ella. That's very kind of you."

I shrugged as if to say "it was nothing," and looked down at the ground to hide my blush.

"Perhaps after the feast you can come back up and share it with me while you tell me all about your adventures in Hogsmeade. With you and those Weasley twins I know that something interesting had to happen," he smirked.

I opened my mouth to tell him that sounded great, before remembering I already had plans. "I'm sorry, I can't tonight. I already made plans with Fred and George."

"Ah, well that's alright. Another time, then." Did I detect a bit of disappointment in his voice? No, it couldn't be. It was just my hopeful imagination. "Come on let's get down to the feast." I nodded and we made our way down to the Great Hall in comfortable silence.

When we arrived he opened the door for me. I jokingly curtsied him and said "Thank you, my lord," in my sad attempt at a British accent.

As I walked through, I heard his quiet chuckle behind me as he aswered, "Of course, my lady." I still had a warm sensation in my stomach as I took my seat between the twins.

During dinner, I couldn't help but glance up at the staff table. I met Lupin's eyes and he gave me a warm smile, which I returned.

"Who are you smiling at?" Fred asked.

"Snape," came my sarcastic reply. George snorted and Fred just rolled his eyes, pushing me lightly with this shoulder.

After we were finished eating we made our way back up to the common room. When we got there we were stopped by a huge crowd accumulating outside the portrait hole. Someone shouted that the Fat Lady was gone. I gasped and suddenly Dumbledore was there, getting to the bottom of what was going on. The Fat Lady was hiding in a different portrait and was utterly distraught. She began telling Dumbledore what happened, but it was hard to make out what she was saying, as she was so upset. There was no mistaking the last thing she said, though. A collective gasp rang out through the crowd. I grabbed on to the back of Fred's sweater in fear, and I felt George place his hand on my back to comfort me. Sirius Black was in the castle.


End file.
